According to a specific service industry statistics survey conducted by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, pachinko hall sales in June were JPY195.27 billion (US$1.84 billion), down 31.7% year-on-year.
However, the June figures represented a significant improvement on May, which had experienced a 77.5% decline – the most dramatic on record – to JPY66.58 billion (US$628.2 million).
Pachinko sales have been in continuous decline for 12 months, but particularly during COVID-19 with sales down 80.4% in March, 38.2% in April, 22.5% in May and 68.7% in June. The decrease in customers has been due to the spread of COVID-19 and this has had a major impact on the pachinko halls.
The main purpose of the survey is to understand business trends such as sales in specific service industries. The survey targets those companies with the highest sales, covering about 70% of the annual sales in the target industry, but this does not cover all pachinko hall operators. Therefore, the figures in this survey differ significantly from the actual sales of the entire pachinko hall industry.
However, because the survey is conducted monthly using the same method, it is appropriate to understand trends in the industry.
Of the 30% of operators with the lowest sales who were not included in the survey, many have gone bankrupt due to poor sales or have closed due to reductions in operations, so the actual rate of decrease in sales for the entire industry will be even greater.
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